The Meaning of Home
by Kristen3
Summary: Set after 3.22, "Going Home." After her time-traveling adventure, Emma explains to David and Mary Margaret what it was like being in the Enchanted Forest with parents who didn't know her. One-shot. Written with love for Anika (BaronessBlixen).


**Author's Note: **In preparation for 4B, I've been re-watching seasons 1-3. I felt like something was missing from 3.22, and this resulted. It only seems right that I dedicate this story to Anika (**BaronessBlixen**), who not only got me into OUAT, but writes the Charming family better than I ever could!

"It feels so good to be home!" Emma exclaimed, looking around at the familiar apartment she shared with Mary Margaret and David. She never thought she'd be so grateful to see it.

Snow White smiled. "But, sweetheart, the Enchanted Forest _is_ your home. Or at least it should've been."

Emma sighed. It was still hard to believe that she'd actually traveled back in time. She had met the Enchanted Forest versions of Regina and Mr. Gold. Both were not what at all she had expected them to be. "I know...but it didn't really feel like home, you know?"

"I know it was a bit different than what you're used to, but it's not such a bad place, Emma. We wanted you to grow up there, you know." David put his arm around his daughter. He loved her so much, and his heart ached at the thought of all that she'd missed out on.

"But you guys were royalty there. Of course you'd love it. I'm just saying it's not my world. I missed Henry."

"You weren't gone for that long," Snow said. "Or maybe you were...it's very confusing."

Emma nodded. It was confusing for her, too. She decided just to come out and tell her parents what was really bothering her. She had told Hook right before they'd left Rumpelstiltskin's vault, but maybe it was time she confided in the people closest to her. "I...I watched you die," Emma said to her mother. Her voice was uncharacteristically small, nothing at all like the tough bail bondsperson Emma usually was.

"But I _didn't _die," Snow said, squeezing her daughter's hand. "Everything's OK now."

"I know, and I was so relieved, believe me," Emma replied. "But afterward, I hugged you, and you had no idea who I was. It was so painful, being around you guys, but not actually _being_ around you guys."

"Believe me, if we'd known who Princess Leia was, we would've reacted differently," David said. "You weren't born yet; how were we supposed to understand?"

"Yeah, I know," Emma said, sighing again. "It's just...before Hook and I went through that portal, I was trying to figure out where I belonged. I thought it was in New York, where Henry and I could make a life without all of this."

Once again, Snow's heart went out to her daughter. Though the family had been reunited two years ago, Emma was still, in many ways, a Lost Girl. "We knew that's what you wanted, but the thought of you leaving again...it killed us."

"But being there made me realize something. Storybrooke is my home. It was something Neal taught me, actually."

At the mention of his name, Snow couldn't help glancing over at her newborn son, who was happily amusing himself in his playpen.

"Not that Neal," Emma said, laughing. "Back before I knew he was related to the Dark One, he told me about his home. In very general terms, of course. But he said that the way you know you have a home, is when you leave, you miss it."

Now Snow thought of Neal's life. His time in the Enchanted Forest had been cut short, just as Emma's had been. He might have left for a different reason, but the end result was the same: a family had been torn apart. She turned to her husband. "You know, we always remember the Enchanted Forest as this great place. Literally, a fairytale. But a lot of awful things happened there. My parents were both murdered there. Rumpelstiltskin lost his son. Regina watched her boyfriend being killed by her own mother."

David nodded. "They were all moments. All you can do is find the people you love and hold onto them. Bad times might come, but they usually remind us of what we have. Emma, a lot of bad things have happened to all of us. No one here's denying that. But the important thing is, we're all here, and we're all together."

Finally, Emma found herself smiling. Her father was right. Since she'd come to Storybrooke, she'd fought a dragon, broken a curse, and stopped the town from being destroyed. It was all far more than anyone should have to deal with. But there were good things, too. Emma had found her family, and, more importantly, she'd found a home.

**The End**


End file.
